GENERAL CULTURAL PRACTICES (Crop & Cultivar Selection) – LOCATION

LOCATION: The selection of a crop will dictate the best location for the operation…
and visa versa.
Example: If a grower chooses tomatoes in Cameron Highlands, Malaysia, the optimum elevation is between 3,000 and 4,000 feet. Any lower and it is usually too hot to grow. Any higher and it is too cold to grow (especially during rainy days)…UNLESS SIGNIFICANT EXPENSE ($$) IS PUT TOWARD COOLING OR HEATING!
Example: If a grower has land at about 2500 feet in elevation in Cameron Highland, a crop
that can tolerate warmer temperatures than tomatoes, such as cucumbers could be selected. The selection of a “cultivar” or “variety” is also important when choosing a location. Seed companies are always coming out with new cultivars (or varieties) to suit different climates and tastes. With the move of many growing operations to higher light regions of the world
… remember photosynthesis… (Most of Asian & Middle East countries, Northern Africa, Northern Australia, Southwest USA, Mexico, Spain) AND the demand for good quality, good tasting tomatoes year around, many seed companies are introducing more HEAT TOLERANT varieties. Example (from one of the greenhouse cultivator company in Southwest USA) TRUST Tomato veriety were selected: a Dutch variety (DeRuiter Seed); optimum day temperature = 72 F. The first 10 acres (and next 30) of greenhouses were passively cooled (no fan and pad/evaporative cooling). They were not able to grow in the Summer and therefore started with transplants (1 month old seedlings started in Canada) in August and removed the crop the following July.